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World T20, Aus vs Ire: as it happened

Shane Watson\'s 51 off 30 balls guided Australia to a seven-wicket victory over Ireland with 29 balls to spare.

Australia innings:

16th over: 125 for 3: That's it. White lofts the ball to midwicket for a four as Australia win the match by seven wickets with 29 balls to spare. Watson top scored for Australia with 51 off 30.

15th over: 121 for 3: White starts the over by hitting two fours and wants to seal things for his team in a hurry. At the end of this over, Australia need three runs to win.

14th over: 110 for 3: Bailey and White are the batsmen to seal things for Australia with some clean hitting and wise cricket. Rankin pitches a short one and Bailey pulls it for a four.

13th over: 103 for 3: Kevin O'Brien comes on to bowl his second over and pull off a tidy one by giving only three runs.

12th over: 100 for 3: Johnston drops a catch which could have been the best catch of the match. Cameron White plays a casual short to short midwicket and Johnston dives to his right but the ball pops out of his stretched right hand.

11th over: 95 for 3: A lazy effort from Watson sees him run out after reaching fifty. He opens the face to guide the ball to short third-man who makes a direct hit.

Shane Watson run out 51 (30)

10th over: 91 for 1: Watson is now in a hurry to reach his half-century and bludgeons Dockrell for a six over square-leg to reach his fifty.

9th over: 77 for 1: Ireland misses a dismissal opportunity. Watson plays straight to Stirling and he fails to grasp on the catch.

8th over: 64 for 1: Dockrell does the trick for Ireland. Warner steps out and flicks it sweetly where Kevin O'Brien dives forward to complete a great catch.

David Warner c Kevin O'Brien b Dockrell 26 (23)

7th over: 60 for 0: Australian openers are managing to find the odd boundaries in each over to keep up the scoring rate. Second ball a poor one on the leg-side and Watson flicks it for a four.

6th over: 53 for 0: George Dockrell comes in to bowl and Watson welcomes him a scorching drive between cover and mid-off. Somehow, Ireland have to break this partnership to come back into the game.

5th over: 44 for 0: Change of bowling as Ireland introduces Alex Cusack. After a big last over, Cusack manages to get through a miserly one by giving just 4 runs.

4th over: 40 for 0: Warner and Watson now cut loose and scores three successive boundaries off Johnston. Johnston again bowls on the pads and Watson flicked effortlessly for a six.

3rd over: 21 for 0: Rankin bowls a long over, which consisted of five wides. First ball Rankin strays onto the pads and Watson flicks it fine for a four. 12 runs come off this over.

2nd over: 9 for 0: Trent Johnston gets some shape going. Moreover both the Australian openers don't seem to be any hurry.

1st over: 6 for 0: Boyd Rankin starts the proceedings for Ireland and hits the right spot apart from the last ball, which was touch short and Warner pulls it off for a four.

Ireland innings:

20th over: 123 for 7: Poor last over from Watson, as he gives away crucial 12 runs. Third ball Watson pitches it short and Nigel Jones pulls for a six square-leg. Kevin O'Brien top scores with 35 off 29 balls, while for Australia Watson returns with three wickets.

19th over: 111 for 7: Despite losing early wickets, Ireland here have bounced back to put up a decent score. Cummins finishes his spell of four overs with 4 for 29.

18th over: 106 for 7: Starc comes round the wicket and creates an angle to clean up Trent Johnston, who moves away to the leg-stump to hit over covers.

Trent Johnston b Starc 7 (7)

17th over: 101 for 6: Cummins has looked rusty in this opener and this over concedes 10 runs. Alex Cusack drives a full ball off Cummins over cover for a four.

16th over: 91 for 6: Hogg completes an impressive spell of 1 for 22. With four overs remaining, Ireland have to go for the big shots.

15th over: 86 for 6: When Ireland were going well with a decent partnership, Watson returned to snap the stand by dismissing Niall first and then claimed Kevin.

Niall O'Brien b Watson 20 (24)

NJ O'Brien b Watson 20 (24)

14th over: 81 for 4: A successful over comes Ireland's way, 12 runs off it. Starc digs in a short ball and Kevin pulls it for a four, followed by another one off a fuller delivery.

13th over: 69 for 4: Kevin now seems to get into the groove and drives through the mid-off for a four. Seven runs come from this over.

12th over: 62 for 4: Kevin finally decides to cut loose and gets two successive boundaries off Hogg. First four was off a slower ball and the next off a quicker one.

11th over: 53 for 4: Now it's spin going on from Australia. Neil O'Brien sweeps strongly from the off-stump off Maxwell for a four.

10th over: 46 for 4: Hogg has not yet lost the art of spinning. Moreover, the left-arm spinner is bowling a tight line and length. Again five runs from this over.

9th over: 41 for 4: As of now, Ireland are finding it tough to score runs with some tight bowling by the Aussies. Just five runs from this over.

8th over: 36 for 4: Ireland lose another wicket and this time Australia's old-man Brad Hogg traps Wilsom plum infront of the stumps.

Gary Wilson lbw b Hogg 5 (5)

7th over: 33 for 3: Tidy one from Daniel Christian. Both Kevin O'Brien and Niel O'Brien look to pull off a decent partnership as Ireland can't afford to lose further wickets.

6th over: 29 for 3: Australia skipper George Bailey brings in offspinner Glenn Maxwell into the attack and he also sneaks in with a wicket. Maxwell tosses it up and Joyce plays straight to the mid-off fielder.

EC Joyce c Warner b Maxwell 16 (18)

5th over: 24 for 2: Best over for Ireland so far as they take eight runs. Joyce goes after Cummins and hits two glorious boundaries.

4th over: 16 for 2: Michell Starc provides another wicket in the form of Stirling, who goes for a wide slash and holes up to third-man.

Paul Stirling c Watson b Starc 7 (12)

3rd over: 13 for 1: It's all out pace attack from Australia trying to choke the flow of runs. Pat Cummins comes in and starys on to the pads in the second ball which Ed Joyce dispatches for a four.

2nd over: 6 for 1: Michell Starc comes in to bowl the second over and gets through a tidy one, just two runs. After losing a wicket in the first over, both the Irish batsmen are playing cautiously.

1st over: 4 for 1: Shane Watson starts the proceedings for Australia and strikes in the very first ball. William Porterfield goes after the short ball and gets a top edge to long leg. Last ball off Watson goes for a boundary, which Paul Stirling stands tall and hits it over extra-cover.

3:00 pm: Ireland won the toss and elected to bat first in the second match of the World Twenty20 at the R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo on Wednesday.

As expected, David Hussey was not included into the Australian playing eleven. There had been rumours in the last few days that Hussey would not be included because of his poor run of form.